Assistant​/Associate​/Full Professor - Grains Breeding

Position: Assistant/Associate/Full Professor - Small Grains Breeding
Job Title

Assistant/Associate/Full Professor - Small Grains Breeding

Agency

Texas A&M Agrilife Research

Department

Amarillo

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

Canyon, Texas

Job Type

Faculty

Job Description

About Texas A&M Agri Life

Texas A&M Agri Life is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:

* Texas A&M Agri Life Extension Service

* Texas A&M Agri Life Research

* College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University

* Texas A&M Forest Service

* Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

As the nation's largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M Agri Life brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M Agri Life is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.

to learn more about how you can be a part of Agri Life and make a difference in the world!

Position Information

Texas A&M Agri Life Research seeks an innovative and dynamic research faculty in small grains breeding. Applicants will be considered for the titles of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor, depending on experience and qualifications. This appointment will be 12 months, non-tenured, 100% research, and administratively located with the High Plains Research and Extension Center in Canyon, TX. This position includes an academic appointment with the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

The individual in this position is responsible for leadership, planning, resourcing, and conducting research in applied small grains breeding as a team member of the statewide Texas A&M Agri Life Small Grains Research and Extension Program (SGREP) to develop and release improved small grain cultivars adapted for High Plains small grains systems and other suitable areas. The SGREP is organized into two Centers of Excellence that conduct cultivar development, genetic studies, agronomic and pest-management research, and grain and forage quality studies in (primarily hard red winter) wheat, oat, and triticale.

This position is located at the High Plains Center of Excellence in Canyon, TX, and targets the High and Rolling Plains of Texas. However, the incumbent will also work with the College Station Center of Excellence, which targets Central Texas, South Texas, and the Blacklands as well as conducts state-wide yield trials and nurseries on targeted diseases and insects.

Responsibilities:

The incumbent will:

(1) assemble, characterize, curate, and exchange hard red winter wheat (and, as appropriate, oat, triticale, and barley) germplasm;

(2) introgress novel sources of biotic- and abiotic-stress resistance and end-use quality from domestic and international collections;

(3) develop breeding populations and inbred lines adapted to target production environments and stakeholder priorities using appropriate approaches;

(4) deploy appropriate traditional, genomic, and phenomic breeding methods with the Agri Life Research Small Grains Geneticist;

(5) conduct small-plot yield trials across irrigated and dryland environments throughout the High Plains, Rolling Plains, and adjacent target regions; participating in regional and national nurseries;

(6) phenotype experimental lines for agronomic performance, disease and insect resistance, dual-purpose grazing tolerance, and grain- and forage-quality traits;

(7) integrate remote sensing, digital twinning, and phenotyping platforms into the program

(8) coordinate end-use grain-quality evaluation with qualified laboratories

(9) coordinate forage- and silage-quality evaluation in cooperation with livestock-systems collaborators;

(10) advance elite candidate lines through the Agri Life variety release process;

(11) prepare variety releases and licenses through Texas A&M Innovation, including coordination with prospective seed-industry licensees and post-release stewardship;

(12) publish cultivar registrations, germplasm releases, and research findings in refereed journals; and

(13) mentor and supervise graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and technical staff.

To accomplish these tasks, collaboration with Agri Life personnel throughout the state is expected, including Texas A&M Agri Life Foundation Seed in Vernon, TX, East Texas A&M University in Commerce, TX, and Research and faculty with expertise in entomology, plant pathology, plant physiology, soil-water-plant dynamics, forage production and systems, agronomy, irrigation water management, wheat genetics, environmental and soil sciences, ruminant nutrition (beef cattle and dairy) and sustainable livestock systems engineering.

In addition, communication and feedback is essential to develop program priorities, and convey progress, and outcomes to stakeholders including farmers, the Texas Wheat Producers Board, the Texas Seed Trade…